What can we say ? .. This kind of toilet is still in
abundance in Beijing and there is no sign of it going away very quickly.
This is partly due to some Beijing/Chinese people thinking that it is more
hygienic than a western-style "sit down" toilet.
The
theory goes that if your naked flesh is in contact with something that other
people's naked flesh has also come into contact with, you could catch some
disease. Well, their may indeed be a shred of truth in that. The
other truth, however, is that with a western-style toilet, a lot more of a
person's "output" has more of a chance of hitting the "target". This being
the case, squat toilet's surroundings are often both wet and dirty, which is not
great for your trousers or anything you may want to place on the floor whilst
you "work".

The toilet pictured is one of the best and cleanest
squat-style toilets to be seen in Beijing. If you're really unlucky, you
can catch really terrible examples.

The squat-style toilets are still manufactured new and can be
found almost anywhere. Most good hotels do feature western toilets though
major new public places like shopping malls tend to have a mixture of both
styles, so don't give up just because you see one of these toilets, look in all
the booths just to make sure there isn't a sit down toilet lurking in one of
them.

Unless you're insanely curious. We would recommend you
give this style of toilet a miss. It requires a great amount of effort and
leg muscle to use. Hold it till you get back to your hotel !